The Lotus's Secret
by pokemon fan 98
Summary: What if Percy, Annabeth, and Grover met Nico and Bianca in the Lotus Hotel and Casino? How would Nico react to learning this? Set after the Titan War.


**A/N:** **This story is part one of two parts, the second of which will be written by my friend RubyBee5. All rights belong to Rick Riordan, except the plot. Hope you like it!**

One day in July, Percy and I went for a walk along the lake, wading in the shallows. I looked into his sea-green eyes and laughed as I saw his peaceful expression.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I said, still laughing slightly. "I just realized that we wasted a lot of time fighting. It seems like we should have realized what we had sooner."

"Hey," He brushed a strand of hair out of my eyes. "We still managed to find a way in the end, and that's the important part, right?"

"Yeah, I guess it is." We stopped walking and looked at each other, him holding me in his arms gently. The sun was setting, and it made the water a blend of pink and orange that looked beautiful with the gently rippling waves washing up on the sand.

"I wonder where Nico is now?" Percy asked, releasing me and walking forward again. "I know he still wants to find Bianca, but do you think he's all right? I mean, he is just a kid."

"Of course he is, Seaweed Brain. He may be young, but he's proven how strong he is time and time again. And as for Bianca… well, I don't know if there's anything he can do about that, but he seemed to be okay with it last time we saw him."

"Do you remember our first quest, and how we got sidetracked in the Lotus Hotel and Casino?" he asked. "Nico had to be there, and Bianca too. We just didn't know who they were yet. Do you think we saw them in there?"

Of course I remembered it. It was one of the reasons I knew I had strong feelings for him, whether they were positive or negative.

When Percy, Grover, and I got into the Lotus Hotel and Casino, everything seemed to be perfect. There was no more worrying, no stressing, and most of all, a long period of well-deserved relaxation; except for one little problem. While we were playing games and eating lotus blossoms, the time to complete our quest was running out, and no one could remember that we even had a quest. It was a very complicated problem.

Then Percy got a message from his dad, urging him to focus on our quest and find a way out of the hotel we had so cleverly been trapped in for days, but seemed like only hours. But that's in the past. Now that we've defeated Kronos, I've had time to develop a relationship with Percy, and we're officially dating. And here we are now.

I stopped and thought about what he had said.

Then it hit me. When we were under the Lotus's spell, Percy, Grover, and I separated, and I went to a section with games on architecture. On the way, I saw something that even the lotus couldn't prevent me from exploring.

The music was blaring all around, and kids were staring at games so intently it was as if their lives depended on them winning. There was a bright and colorful tinge to the rooms, and I weaved my way through the crowd, taking another lotus blossom from a waitress.

"Thank you." I said as she walked away. As I ate the lotus blossom, my head felt a little lighter, and my excitement rose. I started to look around for the perfect place to go at that moment, and my eyes landed on a corner that had an old video game from the forties. A small girl with dark hair was hunched over the game, alone except for another boy a few feet away. She had an outfit that I could tell was not from this time period, and didn't notice when I walked up to her.

"Hello?"

She looked up at me and immediately looked back at the screen, her cheeks flushing. "Hi." She said nervously.

"I'm Annabeth." I said, extending my hand.

"I'm Bianca."

"Hey, do you know where I can find any games on architecture? I love designing structures. Someday I hope to redesign Mount- my parents place." I said, almost forgetting that she might be a mortal.

"I don't know." She said. "I've got to get back to my room to find my brother now. Well, bye."Then she walked away, looking back once to give a small wave and shy smile.

"Bye." I said, and I walked away to find the game, only to be rescued from the spell moments later by Percy.

As I thought about this, I realized that it might not be a good idea to tell Percy. Then I remembered that he told me about what anchored him in the mortal world when he bathed in the River Styx, and how hard that was for him to admit, so I knew he should know the truth.

"You were right about probably seeing Nico and Bianca in the hotel." I said. "I met Bianca just before we left."

He looked at me so intensely I couldn't tell what he was thinking. Then he relaxed a bit. "How was she?" he asked curiously.

"She was fine." I said, smiling again. "She was just like she was when we met her at her school, before…" I shuddered as I remembered the awful trip that rescue had taken, leading to Bianca's death and Percy and me holding up the weight of the sky.

Percy looked out across the water for a moment, and then said, "I think we should tell Nico about this. He should know that you knew his sister. Maybe he saw one of us too."

"Let's ask Grover if he remembers anything about his lone adventure." I said. "If I met Bianca, then he might have met Nico somewhere in there."

"That's a great idea." Percy said. He leaned in and gave me a soft kiss on the lips. "We'll ask him tomorrow. But for now, we have some catching up to do."

With that he grabbed my hand and we walked slowly back to the cabins.


End file.
